Return of Waimarino Art Awards after three years a sign of Ruapehu art scene bouncing back

The Waimarino Arts Award are back after a three-year break. Photo / Bevan Conley

The return of the Waimarino Arts Awards after a three-year hiatus is part of a larger resurgence of the art scene in the Ruapehu District, coordinator John Chapman says.

“We’ve had the issues with Covid and now that’s behind us,” he said.

“It’s going to give artists the opportunity to once again have their work exhibited and the opportunity to actually sell it,” Chapman said.

Founded in 1977, the Waimarino Art Awards is one of the oldest art awards in the country, running as the Ohakune Art Awards until 2003.

The award’s mission is to enable artists and photographers of all ages and skills to showcase their creativity, gain experience and have a chance to compete for prizes awarded by expert judges.

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Chapman said it would be coming back bigger than before with two Toi Māori awards for 2D and 3D art added as well as another new award for short videos.

“We’ve enlarged it and we’ve tried to make it more inclusive for the community.”

Alongside this, traditional categories for fine arts, 2D and 3D arts and photography are up for submissions.

Local iwi Ngāti Rangi have also increased their sponsorship of the award’s top cash prize, the Fine Arts Premium Award, to $3000.

For Chapman, the awards returning was indicative of a returning arts scene in the Ruapehu District.

“The arts have been on hold in the district for a while now,” he said.

As well as the return of the WAA, the Ruapehu Arts Awards also came back this year and the Ōhakune Winter Art Exhibitions are taking place between August 27 and September 10, with exhibitions to be held in multiple restaurants in Ōhakune and the Volcano Vibe Collective in Raetihi.

“There’s a huge amount of creativity in the region and in fact in the whole North Island,” Chapman said.

“There’s a wealth of art out there and it’s really good quality and it’s events like the arts awards that actually brings all this together and gives people the opportunity to exhibit themselves.”

An awards gala for the Waimarino awards will be held on the evening of October 7 at the Royal Theatre in Raetihi for award winners to celebrate, with band The Dukes coming down from Auckland for the event.

The day after the gala will also mark the start of an exhibition week at the theatre, where people will be able to view the works entered into the awards.

This will coincide with a larger arts week in Raetihi which the awards will host in collaboration with Volcano Vibe.

“There are several other exhibitions taking place and workshops throughout the week,” he said.

Chapman said previous editions of the awards had received around 200 entries which the Ruapehu Arts Awards had also received, so he thought the number of works entered could be substantial.

Submissions for the awards close on September 15 and more information on how to submit work is available on the Waimarino Arts Awards website.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.